Last year, Arrowhead's Helldivers 2 took the multiplayer gaming world by storm, captivating players with its mission to spread democracy across the stars through intense battles against aliens and robots. Following the success of their Elden Ring board game adaptation, Steamforged Games has now turned their attention to adapting the fast-paced and chaotic world of Helldivers 2 into a thrilling board game experience. Currently available for backing on Gamefound, IGN had the opportunity to dive into a prototype of the game and engage in insightful discussions with the designers Jamie Perkins, Derek Funkhouser, and Nicholas Yu about their vision for this tabletop adaptation.
Helldivers 2: The Board Game
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Development on Helldivers 2: The Board Game began shortly after the video game's launch, capturing the essence of what made the original so enthralling. The board game recreates the intense firefights, chaotic surprises, and cooperative gameplay that fans love, while also introducing unique twists to enhance the tabletop experience.
Helldivers 2 remains a cooperative, objective-based skirmish game, accommodating one to four players. The designers recommend solo players control two characters to fully experience the teamwork aspect. Each player assumes the role of a different Helldiver class, such as Heavy, Sniper, Pyro, or Captain, each equipped with unique perks, action cards, and a powerful "Act of Valor" ability usable once per game. Players customize their loadouts with primary, secondary, and support weapons, grenades, and three strategems, with recommended setups provided but flexibility for experienced players to choose their own.
Gameplay unfolds on grid-based boards that expand as players explore, revealing sub-objectives and primary mission targets such as Terminid hatcheries to destroy. As the game progresses, increasingly difficult enemies spawn, and a mission timer adds urgency, keeping the gameplay tense and dynamic. The final release will feature multiple objectives, and the base game includes two main enemy factions: the Terminids and the robotic Automatons, each with 10 distinct unit types. There's a possibility that the Illuminate faction may be introduced via an expansion.
A key challenge in adapting the video game was capturing the sense of being overwhelmed and outnumbered. Unlike games like Zombicide, which rely on sheer numbers of weaker enemies, Helldivers 2 opts for fewer, but stronger and more tactical enemies, enhancing the strategic element of combat.
Turns involve players and enemies adding action cards to a pool, which are then shuffled and placed on an initiative tracker similar to Steamforged's Elden Ring game. Combat is resolved through dice rolls, with every four action cards played triggering a random event that can disrupt plans, often humorously. Helldivers' combat mechanics are straightforward: weapons specify the number and type of dice to roll, with every five points inflicting a wound on an enemy. This streamlined system emphasizes damage output over complex modifiers, ensuring a focus on action rather than calculation.
A novel feature introduced in the board game is the 'Massed Fire' mechanic, which encourages teamwork by allowing multiple players to target the same enemy simultaneously, mirroring the cooperative shooting experience of the video game. This mechanic not only fosters collaboration but also reduces player downtime, making for a more engaging experience.
“In the video game, obviously, you're encouraged to work together as a team," Nic explained. "You have a heavily armored enemy, you need to kind of flank around and shoot at the weak points if you don't have a support weapon to deal with it. But there wasn't a really good way to do that in a board game without going to lot of facing and armor mechanics. So what we implemented was we called 'massed fire,' so when anyone shoots at a target, if that's within range of another helldivers primary, secondary target, they can also focus fire with you at that time, and so you're kind of explicitly rewarded or incentivized to work as a group.”
While players can choose to go solo, the 'Massed Fire' mechanic enhances group dynamics and keeps everyone involved. On the enemy side, attacks are simpler, with set effects and damage, though the designers are considering adding more variability to keep combat engaging.
One notable absence from the board game is the galactic war feature from the video game. This decision was made to ensure the board game felt distinct, with the designers framing it as a training simulation for Helldivers. Jamie shared a playful bit of lore: “We're positioning it effectively as a training simulation. So you would get this board game as a helldiver as a training simulation to learn how to be a better helldiver.” This creative narrative adds a unique flavor to the game.
The designers have worked diligently to ensure that the board game captures the essence of Helldivers, despite the different medium. Nic emphasized, “We wanted to make sure that even though had different mechanics, it felt like Helldivers – like we want to have unexpected things that you have to deal with from turn to turn. We want to have stratagems that could go awry and actually blow up your friends in addition to the enemies. The pool of reinforcements that dwindles as you go through the game and calling in stratagems, those are things that feel uniquely Helldivers.” Derek added, “We knew we needed to keep the core loop of what Helldivers is with the mission objectives, and just being able to chase the shiny, right? We've got points of interest and sub-objectives and the objectives to uncover and find, while also having to deal with enemies that are, you know, trying to eat you.”
Currently, the game is about 75-80% complete, leaving room for community feedback and further refinement. Jamie reassured that recent tariff concerns won't impact their plans, and the team is ready to make any necessary adjustments with expert guidance.
My experience with the prototype was exhilarating, with the random events and 'Massed Fire' mechanic creating memorable moments. While I appreciate the focus on tactical combat with fewer, stronger enemies, I personally yearn for more of the chaotic, enemy-swarming action that defines the video game. Additionally, the enemy attack system feels a bit static compared to the rest of the game, and introducing more variability through dice rolls could enhance this aspect.
I'm eagerly anticipating what other surprises Steamforged Games has in store for Helldivers 2. The prototype has left me excited to explore new Helldiver classes, mission types, and combinations with different enemies and biomes. My friends and I are already planning our next drop.
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